Concrete mixing and delivering wagon



(No Model.)

G. F. GRAY. CONCRETE MIXING AND DELIVERING WAGON.

No. 415,411. Patented Nov. 19, 1889.

UNITED STATES GEORGE F.

PATENT OEEIcE.

GRAY, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

CONCRETE MIXING AND DELIVERING WAGON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 415,411, dated November 19, 1889.

Application filed May 15, 1889. Serial No. 310,897. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. GRAY, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Concrete Mixing and Delivering \Vagons; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the class of concrete-handling devices and mechanism; and my invention consists in the hereinafter'described novel wagon,the object of which is to enable the concrete to be mixed at the place where the work of laying it is proceeding and immediately delivered and spread upon said work.

Referring to the accompanying drawingfor a more complete explanation of my invention, the figure is a perspective view of my wagon, a portion of the back of the bed being broken away to show the valved outlet.

A are the wheels of the wagon, and B isits body or bed. This is made of the usual quadrangular shape, composed of sides and ends and a bottom, and for the purpose for which this wagon is intended the bed should be made with reasonably-tight joints to hold its contents. In the bed-bottom is an outlet Coontrolled by a valve or plug D, having a liftingchain (1.

E is a hose or pipe communicating with the outlet 0.

F are platforms, which may be secured to any suitable part of the wagon-frame. (Here shown as connected with the base of the bed 13.) These platforms may be secured at one or both ends of the bed, or at one or both sides thereof, or at both ends and both sides, as shown. They may be connected rigidly; but the connection is preferablya hinged one, the hinges G being heavy ones and sufficiently strong to bear the weight of workmen. This hinged connection enables them to be turned up out of the way alongside of the wagon-bed, in which position they may be secured by buttons H, or other suitable fastenings.

The use of this wagon is as follows: In laying concrete, cement, or artificial-stone surfaces a bed or foundation of one or more layers of larger broken rock is prepared and laid, and then upon this is laid what is termed a topdressing, composed of a mixture of fine gravel, sand, cement, and water. This is usually prepared at the work and has to be immediately laid, as it sets very quickly. The custom is to haul the materials separately to the work and there mix them and spread them from suitable hand conveyances, such as wheelbarrows, boxes, &c. In contradistinction to this mode of operation I load my wagon with the fine gravel, sand, and cement at the place where these materials are kept and then drive to the place of work and stop the wagon in convenient proximity. The platforms F, which during transportation are raised up out of the Way, are now lowered and workmen provided with mixing-hoes mount the platforms. Water from a convenient source is now introduced to the dry mass of gravel, sand, and cement, and the workmen, standing firmly and in convenient positions upon the platforms, immediately and vigorously ply their hoes and thoroughly mix the ingredients within the bed of the wagon. This operation is carried on with due rapidity, and when the mass is reduced to a proper consistency the valve or plug D is lifted by its chain d, so that the now liquid top-dressing flows down through the hose or pipe E, the end of which is properly manipulated to direct the stuff immediately and directly upon the work. Much time is thereby saved, resulting in considerable economy.

I am aware that it is not new to discharge the contents of wheeled vehicles through a hose, pipe, or other outlet-such as water from Watering-carts and seed from seeding or sowing machines; and I do not therefore claim as my invention the mere discharge of the top-dressing from the bed of a wagon; but in work of this class the conditions are somewhat difierent, notably the necessity for mixing the materials in the wagon-bed at the place where the laying of the concrete work is being carried on, and this results in the necessity for the provision of means at once convenient and stable for enabling the work- 7 men to carry out the mixing operation. These means are found in the platforms F, attached to the wagon itself, and which offer sufficient and stable support for the workmen located in convenient positions to enable them to ply their hoes effectively upon the heavy mass in the wagon-bed. Temporary supports such as boxes or wooden horses or other framesare not stable enough to answer the purpose, nor convenient enough to guard against any Waste of time in adjusting them or replacing them or keeping them steady while in use. By being hinged to the bed these platforms may be turned up out of the way when not in use, and are always ready to be adjusted instantly for use. p

The rear platform must not be confounded with the hinged tail-board of an ordinary wagon, for if it were such tail-board it would, when dropped down, open the wagon-bed, and saidbed would not, therefore, serve as a receptacle in which the materials could be mixed. Nor would it be sufficient to use only the ordinary drivers foot-rest of a wagon with which the front platform might possibly be confounded, for the workmen must stand at more places than in front, and, moreover, the ordinary foot-rest is not hinged to the wagon. 1

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A concrete mixing and delivering wagon comprising a wheeled frame and a bed and a valve-controlled outlet from said bed, a platform independent of the walls of the bed and carried by said wagon for the workmen to stand upon while mixing the materials in the bed, substantially as described.

2. A concrete mixing and delivering wagon comprising a wheeled frame, its bed, a valvecontrolled outlet from said bed, and platforms carried by said frame at various points about the bed, but independent thereof, for the workmen to stand upon while mixing the from said bed, and hinged platforms carried -by the wagon and located about the bed,

whereby when not in use they may be turned up out of the way and when in use they may be turned down for the workmen to stand upon while mixing the materials in the bed, substantially as described.

5. A concrete mixing and delivering wagon consisting of a wheeled frame, a bed carried thereby, a val ve-controlled outlet and discharge hose or pipe from said bed, and platforms about said bed and hinged to the base thereof, but independent of its walls, whereby when not in use they may be turned up out of the way and when in use they maybe turned down for the workmen to stand upon while mixing the materials in the bed, substantially as described.

-In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE F. GRAY.

Witnesses:

LEE D. KRAIG, E. W. ROBERTS. 

